GoKawiilFor a decade, NASA promoted the idea of building a space station around the Moon known as the Lunar Gateway. It touted the facility as both a platform for exploring the lunar environment and testing the technology needed for deep-space habitation.
Like many major space projects, it faced delays. Originally, the first component of the space station was due to launch in 2022. Later, it was decided that this module, to provide power and propulsion, would launch in tandem with a habitable volume known as the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) in 2024. This core was slated to be joined by another pressurized habitation module contributed by international partners I-HAB in 2026.
These dates, of course, have come and gone. And in March, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the Gateway was being “paused” so the space agency could focus on the lunar surface.
The decision to end the Gateway experiment is entirely justifiable—NASA and its partners were spending billions of dollars to make it more difficult to reach the lunar surface and faced the prospect of watching Chinese astronauts wander around on the Moon from orbit instead of being there themselves.
But this week, we learned another reason that Gateway is going away, and it’s pretty shocking.
Came out during Congressional testimony
During testimony before the US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Isaacman faced questions about NASA’s budget. As House members often do, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Virginia, asked about parochial matters. His district includes major elements of Northrop Grumman, the primary contractor for the HALO module. “You’ve also canceled an order for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost,” Subramanyam said. “Do you know what will happen to that large investment that was made?”
Since the demise of Gateway, Northrop has been pushing NASA to re-purpose the HALO module for use on the lunar surface as part of the space agency’s Moon base.